sunday morning, hangover, party people, pack your bags...

 monsieur and madam outta control

 mr tibbs art

 the blackbikemike

 vaughan

the  quaffmeister

 rowan

 toddy

 the tinslecat

 sumo

 tommo

maynard

hayride 2012

the toddmeister

the hayride hillclimb
Toddy nails it .... and came third 
just one second between first, second and third places
"I thought I'd let the air out of my tyres and the buggers copied me"

oh dear, the bitch is going to miss the opening ceremony...

 bitch pad fitted

 comes in handy as a paint protector

we are off to party

the hayride is calling

as any chap knows, a head job can work wonders

Well, I am still recovering from the shock and my knee is loving it

Thought I would try starting the bitch without any prime kicks from cold.

Two kicks and she fired up. Went for a ride. Picked up keys for a job, started first kick. Went to local bike shop who has a bunch of old shovel bits, started first kick. Rode over to Windsor to visit my friend Paul, started first kick. 

I tried the different cold start routine because although she would start ok hot since the head job, cold starts seemed to still end up with me having to kick through with throttle open, ignition off and then one kick on with the throttle cracked open to get her to fire up - after the prime kick routine and a few kicks on - which is no fun.

By the way I set the timing slightly advanced at 37˚/38˚ before the head job.

so is this it... the start of the summer...

the lunatics are on the grass...

 mrs arcadian on board the 'haydes' express...

the 'V8 mentalists' venue...  

she's on a walkabout...

 keith baker...

 was just leaving...

 these people are blissfully unaware of the bitch under the flag...  

 huh, too late... 

 say cheese...

 the clampetts ...

 there she is  again...

 neat pair...

 too much is not enough...

 who switched the lights on...

 chopper heaven...

 its this big...

 mentalist headquarters...

 right, who did the burn out...

 Wade and Ian, shovel talk...

 Ray and Pete, come on we're going...

and the plugs have a changed colour!

bitchin

p-pad for the bitch

from colne creek

going up the holler...

V8-Mentalists Car & Bike Show

The Punchbowl Inn

Okewood Hill Ockley Dorking RH5 5PU

Sunday 22nd July

oldschool... just don't try this in your kitchen...

 the plans of mice and men...

I ordered one guide in two sizes (+4 and +5) when I thought only one exhaust guide needed replacing.

(The valve guides listed when the engine was originally built were +4's,
inlet and exhaust) 

Lucky me, I had ordered two guides as both exhausts were fucked.

The old guides turned out to be a +2 and a +4 and measured only one thou between them... 

and nowhere near the same real measurement of the new guides. 

So we needed a lathe... or... 

Ray to the rescue, chucked them up on his drill and with a bit of wood 

and emery paper we sized the the guides down to fit.

in the oven and heat to gas mark 5 or for fan ovens, 200˚... 

(handy things kitchens, heheh)

 pressing out the guides...

 with home made press... 

 in with the new expensive bronze guides...

 purchased a set of reamers...

 reamed the new guides to size of new valves with tuition from Ray...

New Kibblewhite black diamond (as in fucking expensive) exhaust valves 

Fuck... another heart attack... they were not the correct replacements.! 

Most (available) valves are listed as correct for '66 to '84 Shovels

 - late '81 up are different...

In the end we measured up these and figured they would be OK.

 and are fitted with the new viton valve seals

Phew, three weeks later all done, 

with props to my friend Ray (of trike fame) 

for his invaluable help and guidance!

drip drip drip...

Viton valve seals

will solve some of my issues

rocker shaft seal kit

should sought the front rocker leak and shims if req'd 

rear pushrods show wear at top

seems its not so unusual with these thicker alloy rods

so the tubes are having a little relieving done to them 

its taken nearly five days to get the burnt on oil deposits off the heads and valves by soaking in a oven de-carboniser and rubbing with plastic scourers.

to discover that both exhaust valves have wear and need replacing.

the rear looks like someone had taken a file to it.

and guess what, Rowe have stopped making guides and valves so there's is a shortage.

and again a more expensive set had to be ordered.

I could go off this shit. 

gotta get me some of these puppies...

 too much is

never enough

every little helps...

starter gear for the kicker

alex @ grizzlys had this on back order for me

in fact he suggested trying it

designed for the lads with magnetos, the engine turns over more when kicked

watch this space...

I'm a dancing fool...

taken by a passer-by in 2010
my mate johnny earning a crust when this dancing fool lays down some moves...

there's something going wrong around here...

burnt carbon is a c**t to remove,

I found gasket remover does help...

 money pit, guess how much - she's bleeding me dry...

 tried removing the cracked powdercoat, tried cleaning them, they looked crap, so painted them - it will probably flake off too...

decarboniser for oven cleaning took 24hrs on the valves

not for use on aluminium folks...